Nani: We can bounce back even without Rooney
Published 13:16 24/11/11 By David Anderson
Nani has dismissed any notion that Manchester United are having a wobble, claiming: “We’re in a good moment.”
United have made a meal of their easy Champions League group and need a result at Basle in their final game to clinch their place in the last 16 after being held at Old Trafford by Benfica.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are also trailing in the title race and are five points behind pace-setters Manchester City.
Nani rejects talk that they are in trouble going into Saturday’s clash with Newcastle and insists they are playing well.
United had won all five games, without conceding, before their draw with Benfica and Nani says Tuesday’s disappointment was just a blip.
“We’re in a good moment,” said the Portuguese winger. “We’ve been playing good football and we just have to forget this and think about the way we have been playing.
“The way we haven’t conceded goals and won games is important. We’ll try to do that in the next game against Newcastle.”
United have been missing the injured Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck and Nani says they will improve as they return.
“We’ve missed a couple of players,” he said. “We’re missing a couple of players every game, which is not good for any team, but we will be fine in the next games and the players will come back.
“We have to be ready to return to winning ways against Newcastle. We expect a good game and we have to show we want it more than them by working harder.”
Nani blamed a touch of defensive misfortune and blown opportunities at the other end for the European draw, which leaves United needing a result in Basel to qualify in second place from what looked an easy Champions League group.
He said: "We were unlucky with the first goal. Everybody was in a good position and there was no chance for them to create anything. They crossed the ball and it came off a leg and it was an own goal.
"We played some fantastic football and created a lot of chances to score goals and eventually wasted a lot. We let them create a chance to make it 2-2 and they took it. That was a big problem for us."
Victory at St James' Park would leave City just two points clear going into their tricky game away to Liverpool on Sunday.
